Blog

March 26, 2011

Our first family is a family of seven from Burma, the father and mother, a grandmother, and four children between the ages of 12 and 3. The father left Burma when he was only 13 years old. In order to flee the violence and persecution in his country, he moved to Malaysia. The family arrived here in late January. The father speaks multiple languages and is learning English and doing very well. The three oldest children are in school and are really enjoying it and are also doing well with their studies.

The second family is four siblings from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are ages 26, 16, 12, and 11. The family left due to violence in the country and the death of their mother and father. They first fled to Zimbabwe where they stayed for three years and were helped to come to the United States in late February. Their travel to the US was long, but good for the family. The three young boys are in school and their older sister is hoping to continue her studies as well.

The third family comes from Somalia and consists of a brother and sister, ages 23 and 22 and their mother. They arrived here in late January. The family left Somalia when the children were very young due to the civil war and moved to a refugee camp. The brother said that he has heard stories of how nice his country used to be, but he can’t remember it. Life in the camp was very difficult, and the family was very happy to be able to come to America. The sister and brother are hoping to find work and go to school. Both are learning English as well. The family is very happy here and is doing very good, however, they sometimes feel lonely because they are not near a strong community.